I can't pretend to understand a heavy addiction to gaming, but I can speak to when my own habits have gotten out of hand. Usually, it was during a rough patch at work and the release of a new MMO or large-scale RPG (you know, the really engrossing games). Heck, Magic: The Gathering and modifying NERF guns even got me in those phases.

The best thing? Distance. Once I got some distance from the hobby, with the help of my wife and friends, I was able to look back and really see how much of my time, energy, and (gulp) money was tied up in this... and what I had to show for it (a lot of missing time, energy, and money).

I wish your featured author the best of luck in making the change he wants. I think he'll breathe a big sigh of relief when it happens, too!

It's all about perspective. After having a baby I found gaming had been a habit for lack of anything better to do. Don't get me wrong I still game, but I only spend a quarter of the time I used to on it. Mostly I game in the winter, in the summer I get some distance from it, there's so much to do outside with the wife and kid (And my apartments air conditioner manages to cool my apartment to a chilly 86degrees on a 90 degree day, so that helps :P).

When winter rolls around and all the good games come out I spend a bit more time on it. I will be losing a lot of time to Xcom: EU this year.

Well, it's harder if you don't tend to do the more social things. I'm quite afraid of strangers and I don't have many(if any) friends to speak of.

the only thing that could motivate me is my parents and possibly my future, which I still haven't put much thought into.

If anything, my only real hobby is videogaming. Reading's nice, but I don't tend to do it that much. I'd love to play boardgames, or any game played on a table, but I don't have people that want to play boardgames with me.

However, I'm not that depressed, just that I know I have to focus on the future of where I'm going. Maybe that'll give me more energy than what I have right now.

Why should we listen to a doctor for a question about gaming addiction when they aren't likely to know any more about it than the average person on the street?

Because his advice is sound and is an acknowledged method for overcoming non-chemical addiction? Because identifying habit triggers and cognitive dysfunctions is a proven method for breaking poor habit cycles? Because he's a compassionate (seemingly) individual with a record of sound writing on video-game addiction? Because being a doctor doesn't disqualify you from knowing the basics on how to advise somebody in this situation? Because he also states that if the problem is severe and persists a professional should be contacted?

Personally I find that its best to try and ration your gaming time to try and give yourself enough time to enjoy your hobby but also give yourself enough time to carry on with your life.

Its very similar to giving up smoking or going on a diet - if you go cold turkey and cut it off completely you'll just crave it more; and eventually you'll just break and go right back to how you were.

If you limit yourself to say maybe 2 - 3 hours a night then you know you have a limit and can try to make the most of your time. Again its like a diet; if you eat burgers every day you won't enjoy them as much as when you treat yourself to one a week, so limiting your consumption (and mentally agreeing with yourself that its a good idea) is the first step towards better appreciation of your games and the time you spend in them.

Obviously the type of game also plays a huge part in how you spend your time. Most MMOs can quickly spiral out of control and you'll start doing some dailies and next second get invited to a big raid and spend hours killing bosses. You'll need to be much more diciplined in what games you play or how you spend that time as you know you have a specific cut off point that cannot be broken.

I would try and get into an instance asap so I know I have the most time available and then if I have some time left over run some dailies or simply log off for the day to try again tomorrow. Again; almost all of this is self dicipline and self management, and the skills will be useful for later life too as a lot of jobs these days rely on people being able to make the optimum use of their available time.

The first few days will be the worst as you'll feel weird about cutting yourself off early but once your into the flow you'll find that you appreciate the time you spend in game much more and maybe even get to a point where you know you can control that part of your life rather than it controlling you.

Why should we listen to a doctor for a question about gaming addiction when they aren't likely to know any more about it than the average person on the street?

Because his advice is sound and is an acknowledged method for overcoming non-chemical addiction? Because identifying habit triggers and cognitive dysfunctions is a proven method for breaking poor habit cycles? Because he's a compassionate (seemingly) individual with a record of sound writing on video-game addiction? Because being a doctor doesn't disqualify you from knowing the basics on how to advise somebody in this situation? Because he also states that if the problem is severe and persists a professional should be contacted?

Any of those, really.

Using your professional title when writing is a way of saying you're qualified to profess the information you are professing. Plus look at the column title: Ask Dr. Mark. If there's a title that screams "trust me, I know about this" more than that, I haven't seen it. If he wants to post anonymously and on an equal level with others I would encourage him, but now more than ever too many doctors and patients think that medical qualifications endows one with an ability to solve any problem, medical or not.

Why should we listen to a doctor for a question about gaming addiction when they aren't likely to know any more about it than the average person on the street?

Because his advice is sound and is an acknowledged method for overcoming non-chemical addiction? Because identifying habit triggers and cognitive dysfunctions is a proven method for breaking poor habit cycles? Because he's a compassionate (seemingly) individual with a record of sound writing on video-game addiction? Because being a doctor doesn't disqualify you from knowing the basics on how to advise somebody in this situation? Because he also states that if the problem is severe and persists a professional should be contacted?

Any of those, really.

Using your professional title when writing is a way of saying you're qualified to profess the information you are professing. Plus look at the column title: Ask Dr. Mark. If there's a title that screams "trust me, I know about this" more than that, I haven't seen it. If he wants to post anonymously and on an equal level with others I would encourage him, but now more than ever too many doctors and patients think that medical qualifications endows one with an ability to solve any problem, medical or not.

But he does know about this. And you should trust him. He's recommending a non-medical solution to a habitual problem that's common sense and widely accepted practice, you don't *need* a qualification to suggest pattern-recognition as a solution to addictive gaming. Are we really suggesting that being a Doctor means that you *can't* give the most basic, sound answer because you haven't done the training? Especially in the light of his recommendation of seeking further help, I think it's either paranoid or pedantic to say that a GP can't give the same answer you could readily accept of the half-informed man on the street.

In light of that, let me have another go at answering your original question.

Because his advice is sound and is an acknowledged method for overcoming non-chemical addiction? Because identifying habit triggers and cognitive dysfunctions is a proven method for breaking poor habit cycles? Because he's a compassionate (seemingly) individual with a record of sound writing on video-game addiction? Because being a doctor doesn't disqualify you from knowing the basics on how to advise somebody in this situation? Because he also states that if the problem is severe and persists a professional should be contacted?

Any of those, really.

Using your professional title when writing is a way of saying you're qualified to profess the information you are professing. Plus look at the column title: Ask Dr. Mark. If there's a title that screams "trust me, I know about this" more than that, I haven't seen it. If he wants to post anonymously and on an equal level with others I would encourage him, but now more than ever too many doctors and patients think that medical qualifications endows one with an ability to solve any problem, medical or not.

But he does know about this. And you should trust him. He's recommending a non-medical solution to a habitual problem that's common sense and widely accepted practice, you don't *need* a qualification to suggest pattern-recognition as a solution to addictive gaming. Are we really suggesting that being a Doctor means that you *can't* give the most basic, sound answer because you haven't done the training? Especially in the light of his recommendation of seeking further help, I think it's either paranoid or pedantic to say that a GP can't give the same answer you could readily accept of the half-informed man on the street.

In light of that, let me have another go at answering your original question.

Take your computer apart into all it's different components. I'm not joking. That's how kicked it.

Spoiler: Click to ViewPHA+TmFoLCBJJ20ga2lkZGluZzwvcD4=

Sounds legit but still it's never easy. How I really did it is: I asked the person I was living with to keep the power cable from my pc. And to only give it to me when I had some actual work on the computer. Sad but true. I'm weak. Also: a gf helps.

Salad Is Murder:Oh, now we're taking the average person on the street with some basic knowledge's opinion about brain chemistry and addiction and triggers and stuff?

Okay, well I'm Dr. Herpina Derpstein (apots, M.D., DDS)and I think that eating the all-new Chevy Sonic will cure your lukemia and I bet this mountain dew will fix that gout'cha got.

Cute, but you're missing an important point; A bad habit, which by all accounts is what the author is suffering from, is not a chemical addiction, internal or otherwise. It's not an addiction. It has triggers, but not in a chemically compelling sense. You don't need a whiff of neuroscience to know the utter basics of sound mental health. I don't need to be a surgeon to put a band-aid onto myself or a friend. Keeping a journal of urges and their causes isn't rocket science, Dr. Herpina Derpstein, it's about as basic to self-help as getting out of the house once in a while and having friends.

And, best of all, you don't need to be an expert to recommend to a friend that they *see* an expert if your advice doesn't help. Which I would do, which Doctor Mark has done and which the author is heartily advised to do.

Untie your panties, the good Doctor isn't diagnosing him or handing out a prescription for antidepressants.

But he does know about this. And you should trust him. He's recommending a non-medical solution to a habitual problem that's common sense and widely accepted practice, you don't *need* a qualification to suggest pattern-recognition as a solution to addictive gaming. Are we really suggesting that being a Doctor means that you *can't* give the most basic, sound answer because you haven't done the training? Especially in the light of his recommendation of seeking further help, I think it's either paranoid or pedantic to say that a GP can't give the same answer you could readily accept of the half-informed man on the street..

Sigh. No we're not saying an MD can't give this advice, but only that it's misleading to give it in a column presenting itself as medical advice. As someone below said, it's not a case of chemical dependence. Go see a psychologist. Next we'll see Dr. Mark giving legal advice and when criticism comes I'll be saying the same thing - there's nothing about being a doctor that qualifies you to give that advice no matter how basic it is.

"As a clinical psychologist with 21 years experience" He first words on this website. Kind of dont think The Escapist would pay him to write columns if he was lying or pretending to be a Dr.

Well then it's even worse because he's not a doctor. You don't call yourself a doctor if you've got a PhD, you call yourself Mr Mark PhD, Clinical Psychologist. Presenting yourself as "Dr Mark" is just intellectually dishonest.

Blood Brain Barrier:Well then it's even worse because he's not a doctor. You don't call yourself a doctor if you've got a PhD, you call yourself Mr Mark PhD, Clinical Psychologist. Presenting yourself as "Dr Mark" is just intellectually dishonest.

This is an absolutely ridiculous and wholly untrue claim. Even college professors with doctoral degrees are universally referred to as "Dr. So-and-so." It's more common for a medical doctor to follow up the name with "MD" than for every other person holding a doctoral degree to forego the title. I mean... you're aware of what PhD stands for, right? (DOCTOR of Philosophy)

What's more, Dr. Mark doesn't have a PhD. He has a PsyD. As this type of addiction is psychological in nature, rather than chemical (and chemical addictions nearly always have a psychological component as well), that makes him perfectly qualified in this case.

Maybe you didn't know he was actually a PsyD. Maybe you misunderstood what exactly that entails. Hey, happens to all of us. But when you're caught in ignorance, don't continue attacking the guy's credibility just to save face. (It doesn't.)

Blood Brain Barrier:Well then it's even worse because he's not a doctor. You don't call yourself a doctor if you've got a PhD, you call yourself Mr Mark PhD, Clinical Psychologist. Presenting yourself as "Dr Mark" is just intellectually dishonest.

He has a Doctorate of Psychology....It says that on the page I just linked you

This is an absolutely ridiculous and wholly untrue claim. Even college professors with doctoral degrees are universally referred to as "Dr. So-and-so." It's more common for a medical doctor to follow up the name with "MD" than for every other person holding a doctoral degree to forego the title. I mean... you're aware of what PhD stands for, right? (DOCTOR of Philosophy)

What's more, Dr. Mark doesn't have a PhD. He has a PsyD. As this type of addiction is psychological in nature, rather than chemical (and chemical addictions nearly always have a psychological component as well), that makes him perfectly qualified in this case.

Maybe you didn't know he was actually a PsyD. Maybe you misunderstood what exactly that entails. Hey, happens to all of us. But when you're caught in ignorance, don't continue attacking the guy's credibility just to save face. (It doesn't.)

Blood Brain Barrier:Well then it's even worse because he's not a doctor. You don't call yourself a doctor if you've got a PhD, you call yourself Mr Mark PhD, Clinical Psychologist. Presenting yourself as "Dr Mark" is just intellectually dishonest.

This is an absolutely ridiculous and wholly untrue claim. Even college professors with doctoral degrees are universally referred to as "Dr. So-and-so." It's more common for a medical doctor to follow up the name with "MD" than for every other person holding a doctoral degree to forego the title. I mean... you're aware of what PhD stands for, right? (DOCTOR of Philosophy)

What's more, Dr. Mark doesn't have a PhD. He has a PsyD. As this type of addiction is psychological in nature, rather than chemical (and chemical addictions nearly always have a psychological component as well), that makes him perfectly qualified in this case.

Maybe you didn't know he was actually a PsyD. Maybe you misunderstood what exactly that entails. Hey, happens to all of us. But when you're caught in ignorance, don't continue attacking the guy's credibility just to save face. (It doesn't.)

Nice. A professional doctorate such as a PsyD, LLD or D.D isn't a license to go around calling yourself a doctor. PhD graduates might from time to time call themselves "Doctor" so-and-so but it isn't really correct - the term is reserved in public use for medical doctors. In anglo countries medical doctors do not even require a doctorate but a Bachelor of Medicine/Surgery, yet we call them doctors because they practice medicine. If I have a Doctor of Laws or Doctor of Divinity and go around calling myself "a doctor" you don't think that is going to mislead people? Professional doctorates are available in just about every field - engineering, science, teaching, business. If we use the term "doctor" in front of our names because we hold a doctorate, the term becomes meaningless and confusing because you don't know who's who and what's what.

Blood Brain Barrier:Nice. A professional doctorate such as a PsyD, LLD or D.D isn't a license to go around calling yourself a doctor. PhD graduates might from time to time call themselves "Doctor" so-and-so but it isn't really correct - the term is reserved in public use for medical doctors.

No, it isn't. That's like saying only McDonald's can call something a hamburger. Now, when most people say, "Wanna get a hamburger?" it might be that they mean from McDonald's, but that doesn't make it an exclusive term.

You're mistaking one common use for the term to be the only definition of the term.

What's more, PsyD are very often referred to as "doctors," due to how closely they work with the medical field. And just like I wouldn't go to a cardiac doctor for my intestinal problems, we're not all running around assuming "doctor" means "doctor of all the things."

If we use the term "doctor" in front of our names because we hold a doctorate, the term becomes meaningless.

Why no. No, it doesn't. Because that's exactly what the term means. There is no medical meaning to the word "doctor." It simply implies one who is a master of something, to the point that they can teach and train others.

The dictionary, the etymology of the word "doctor," the entire academic world, and common sense are all on my side.

Blood Brain Barrier:Nice. A professional doctorate such as a PsyD, LLD or D.D isn't a license to go around calling yourself a doctor. PhD graduates might from time to time call themselves "Doctor" so-and-so but it isn't really correct - the term is reserved in public use for medical doctors.

No, it isn't. That's like saying only McDonald's can call something a hamburger. Now, when most people say, "Wanna get a hamburger?" it might be that they mean from McDonald's, but that doesn't make it an exclusive term.

You're mistaking one common use for the term to be the only definition of the term.

What's more, PsyD are very often referred to as "doctors," due to how closely they work with the medical field. And just like I wouldn't go to a cardiac doctor for my intestinal problems, we're not all running around assuming "doctor" means "doctor of all the things."

If we use the term "doctor" in front of our names because we hold a doctorate, the term becomes meaningless.

Why no. No, it doesn't. Because that's exactly what the term means. There is no medical meaning to the word "doctor." It simply implies one who is a master of something, to the point that they can teach and train others.

The dictionary, the etymology of the word "doctor," the entire academic world, and common sense are all on my side.

We're not talking etymology, but the use of the word, in public use, as a title. When I have a column called "ask Dr. Blood Brain Barrier" with no more information there is the assumption that I'm a physician and not a lawyer, physiotherapist or priest no matter what qualifications I have. I don't know where you live but it would have to be a strange place for that not to be the case. End of story.

And also when someone asks me what I do and I say "a doctor", it should be obvious the meaning of the word isn't intended to be "someone who is master of something". That would be a ridiculous and pointless reply giving no information as to my profession.

Nice. A professional doctorate such as a PsyD, LLD or D.D isn't a license to go around calling yourself a doctor. PhD graduates might from time to time call themselves "Doctor" so-and-so but it isn't really correct - the term is reserved in public use for medical doctors. In anglo countries medical doctors do not even require a doctorate but a Bachelor of Medicine/Surgery, yet we call them doctors because they practice medicine. If I have a Doctor of Laws or Doctor of Divinity and go around calling myself "a doctor" you don't think that is going to mislead people? Professional doctorates are available in just about every field - engineering, science, teaching, business. If we use the term "doctor" in front of our names because we hold a doctorate, the term becomes meaningless and confusing because you don't know who's who and what's what.

So yeah, you're wrong but I'll forgive your arrogance for now.

To quote wikipedia

"Abbreviated "Dr" or "Dr.", it is used as a designation for a person who has obtained a doctorate-level degree."

"In the United States, the title Doctor is commonly used professionally by those who have earned a doctorate-level degree."

Dr. is a title, its not limited to the word Doctor. It is used both to describe people who are medical doctors and the abbreviation is used as well to describe people who have docterates.

Blood Brain Barrier:We're not talking etymology, but the use of the word, in public use, as a title. When I have a column called "ask Dr. Blood Brain Barrier" with no more information there is the assumption that I'm a physician and not a lawyer, physiotherapist or priest no matter what qualifications I have. I don't know where you live but it would have to be a strange place for that not to be the case. End of story.

You can go on simply insisting you're right, but it's not providing your case any weight whatsoever. If I make mention of "Dr. Freud," no one wonders if I'm referencing some obscure gastroenterologist. And while I think the guy's a hack, "Dr. Phil" has never been confused with a pediatrician.

Now, I can certainly agree that, nine times out of ten, when people say someone is "a doctor" without any kind of qualifier, they're indicating a medical or psychological doctor. I can also agree that medical doctor is more often the intent. But that's not what we're debating here.

The title of doctor requires only one thing: a doctorate in a particular field. That is, in fact, why it is called a doctorate. It's perfectly correct for Dr. Mark to call himself Dr. Mark. Why? Because he is Dr. Mark. And no, he doesn't have to append PsyD to his name to be correct.

Now, to avoid confusion, most Drs. do tend to add the type of doctor to the end.

Dr. Smith, DDS. Dr. House, MD. Dr. Johnson, Ed. D.

And also when someone asks me what I do and I say "a doctor", it should be obvious the meaning of the word isn't intended to be "someone who is master of something". That would be a ridiculous and pointless reply giving no information as to my profession.

Colloquial use of a term doesn't negate the meaning of the term. It just means in certain cases, more context is expected because of certain assumptions. What's more, you're not talking about a title anymore.

If someone says, "I'm Dr. Campbell," that's a correct use of the title regardless of what their doctorate may be. If I say, "I'm a doctor," instead of "I'm a doctor of music composition," I'm not providing enough information. I'm misusing the colloquial understanding. What I'm saying isn't incorrect, but it is unclear and ambiguous in many situations. Having the title of doctor, and saying you're "A doctor" have different connotations, but neither is correct or incorrect universally.

Dr. Mark is Dr. Mark. He's a psychological doctor. His title is perfectly fine to use, because it is 100% correct and accurate. Now, if he was just running around saying, "Trust me, I'm a doctor," you could argue he's being deliberately misleading.

Perhaps you should listen to him because he personally suffered from game addiction, has been in clinical practice for more than 20 years, has actual experience treating people with a wide variety of issues, and, unlike many medical professionals, doesn't immediately assuming gaming is worthless.

Or you could just keep trolling because he chooses to use the title that he earned.

But he does know about this. And you should trust him. He's recommending a non-medical solution to a habitual problem that's common sense and widely accepted practice, you don't *need* a qualification to suggest pattern-recognition as a solution to addictive gaming. Are we really suggesting that being a Doctor means that you *can't* give the most basic, sound answer because you haven't done the training? Especially in the light of his recommendation of seeking further help, I think it's either paranoid or pedantic to say that a GP can't give the same answer you could readily accept of the half-informed man on the street..

Sigh. No we're not saying an MD can't give this advice, but only that it's misleading to give it in a column presenting itself as medical advice. As someone below said, it's not a case of chemical dependence. Go see a psychologist. Next we'll see Dr. Mark giving legal advice and when criticism comes I'll be saying the same thing - there's nothing about being a doctor that qualifies you to give that advice no matter how basic it is.

That is not my quote in your reply, please change it to the person who actually said it(Ultra Joe) or remove it.

All due respect: you may be considered a doctor if you have a PHD, but the distance between that and an MD, MBBS or even a DO could be as large as the the distance from my butt to the moon; and if making a Dr. Mario joke is disrespectful or off-topic on a video game forum then I have no idea what we're all doing here.

The question was whether or not Dr.Mark was a doctor. We are answering you: Yes. He is a doctor. If you have a PHD, you are a doctor, and so it follows that it's completely within your rights to refer to yourself as such. Many professors at universities also go by the title "Doctor", despite not having medical degrees.

We're happy to hear jokes about video games, provided that they are funny or at the very least respectfully on-topic.

Dastardly:You can go on simply insisting you're right, but it's not providing your case any weight whatsoever. If I make mention of "Dr. Freud," no one wonders if I'm referencing some obscure gastroenterologist.

Slightly off-topic, but Freud was a Dr. med. (MD), i.e. he held a doctorate in medicine. I don't even know if Austria has a specific equivalent to the anglosaxon PsyD, Germany at least doesn't and groups doctorates in psychology under Dr. phil. (PhD).In any case, he would have been called "Dr. Freud" regardless, because over here the title literally is "Dr." with only the discipline added afterwards. Dr. med., Dr. phil., Dr. iur., Dr. rer. nat., and so on. Makes things a bit easier judging from this thread.